Robert SmithPedalboard, 2019
Robert Smith toured with the Cure in 2019 on nine ordinary Boss compacts across three plastic boards: a GE-7, a CS-2, an SD-1 and BD-2, a PH-3, two flangers and two DD-3 delays, each pair kept at different settings.
Three-board Boss system
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 9 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Robert Smith's 2019 setup. Board-specific roles and the evidence behind each identification and position.
Reconstructed orderIdentity and position are evidenced separately. Reconstructed positions are not observed connections.
Filter & EQ
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Shapes the tonal balance between his different guitars across the three boards.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Dynamics
Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Provides compression on the clean arpeggiated parts, if correctly identified.
The source identifies this unit only as a possible Boss CS-2 from the photographs and does not confirm it.
- Identity
- Tentative
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
Integrated board
Role in this rig
The long-serving overdrive, in use across four decades of Cure records.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
Integrated board
Role in this rig
One of two Boss drives, used for the brighter overdriven rhythm parts.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Adds the phase movement across the sustained chordal parts.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Boss BF-2 Flanger
Integrated board
Role in this rig
The older flanger kept alongside the BF-3 for its particular voice.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Boss BF-3 Flanger
Integrated board
Role in this rig
One of the flangers carrying the swirling texture central to his sound.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Supplies the primary repeats behind the guitar parts.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Holds a second delay time available without changing the first unit.
- Identity
- Visually identified
- Position
- Reconstructed
Visually identified equipment · Reconstructed order · Serial path
Effects Bay identified the units from photographs of the actual boards posted by bandmate Reeves Gabrels in March 2019. Mixdown independently surveys Smith's gear era by era and confirms the SD-1, BF-2 and BD-2 as long-running fixtures, alongside his documented preference for ordinary Boss and MXR stompboxes over boutique units. Neither source publishes a cable order, and the units are spread across three separate Boss boards rather than one chain, so the sequence shown is a functional reconstruction placing equalisation and gain ahead of modulation and delay. The Boss TU-3 tuner is omitted as a utility device. The compressor is recorded as tentative because the source flags its identification as uncertain.
No source publishes this sequence. The units are ordered by conventional signal-chain practice, and any documented routing zone is kept as recorded.
Cited sources
MethodologyQuestions about Robert Smith's 2019 pedalboard
- What pedals did Robert Smith use in 2019?
- This dated entry lists 9 units: Boss GE-7 Equalizer, Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer, Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter, Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss BF-3 Flanger, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay. This is the recorded inventory, not a claim that every connection or model identification is confirmed; see the evidence and routing notes.
- What order were Robert Smith's pedals in?
- The complete order is reconstructed, not observed. The layout follows the cited routing constraints and the archive's signal-chain convention where the sources are silent: Guitar → Boss GE-7 Equalizer → Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer → Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive → Boss BD-2 Blues Driver → Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter → Boss BF-2 Flanger → Boss BF-3 Flanger → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → Boss DD-3 Digital Delay → amplifier.
- Is this Robert Smith's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 9 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Robert Smith owned or used. Floor pedals, rack units and routing devices are included only where recorded; omitted equipment and uncertain connections are explained in the notes. It is not a complete or current rig inventory.
- When and where was this pedalboard used?
- Photographed on tour, March 2019. Touring rig. This is the rig documented for that touring period, not a career-wide gear list.
- How does the archive know what was on this pedalboard?
- 2 cited sources, listed above with the date each was read, including Effects Bay, Mixdown. Among them a photograph and a written article. The units are recorded as visually identified equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-08-09.